Automatic controlling mechanism



Oct. 22, 1935. 3. 3 co 2,018,053

AUTOMATIC CONTROLLING MECHANISM FOR TAXIMETERS Filed May 9, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVEZ VTOR BY Grover C Codi M WBJA AZiORNEV Oct. 22, 1935. G. c COIL AUTOMATIC CONTROLLING MECHANISM FOR TAXIMETERS Filed May 9, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Gmvez C C0i AKTORNEY 0st. 22, 1935. I G cQlL 2,018,053

AUTOMATIC CONTROLLING MECHANISM FOR TAXIMETERS Filed May 9, 1932 I5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR Grover C. (0M

Patented Oct. 22, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AUTOMATIC CONTROLLING MECHANISM FOR TAXIMETERS Application May 9, 1932, Serial No. 610,149

9 Claims.

This application relates to means to automatically throw the flag shaft or controlling shaft of a taximeter when the passengers seat is occupied. Another object of the invention is to provide means to break a circult as soon as the controlling shaft has been operated so as not to drain the battery of the car. Another object of the invention is to provide means to lock the flag against being thrown beyond its home position unless the fare drums of the taximeter have been returned to their zero position. Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the detailed specification and claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a diagrammatic view of the cab having a spring controlled switch in the rear seat and having an automatic taximeter mounted in the cab;

Fig. 2 1s a front elevational view of-the connecting means between the flag and the flag shaft;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view of the circuit;

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of the control mechanism mounted on the back plate of a taximeter;

Fig. 5 ls a side view, partly in cross section, through the meter, taken at right angles to the view shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a part of the mechanism shown in Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a lever controlling ratchet and arm.

The cab I is provided with a seat switch 2 consisting of a plunger 3 and spring contacts 4. The plunger 3 is moved downwardly into engagement with the contacts 4 when a passenger takes his seat. The car battery 5 is grounded at 6 and is connected by a lead 1 to one of the contacts 4. The other contact i is connected by a lead 8 with a magnet 9 which is mounted on the back plate In of the taximeter. A lead extends from the magnet 9 to a spring contact l2. A cam I3 normally holds a spring contact M in engagement with the spring contact I2, which spring contact I4 is connected to a lead l5 which is grounded at I6. When a passenger sits on the seat and moves the plunger 3 into engagement with the contacts 4 the circuit will be completed and the magnet 9 will be energized. The spring contact 54 is provided with insulation H and the spring contact |2 is provided with insulation I8. The spring contacts I2 and I4 are separated by an insulation block I9.

The flag shaft 23 is mounted on the back plate H3 and is provided with a hub 2| in which there is a notch 22. The flag shaft 20 is provided with a disk 23 which carries a pin 24 on which is rotatably mounted a pawl 25 which has a rearwardly extending arm 26 which engages a stop pin 27 5 carried bya lever 28 which is normally held in the position shown in Fig. 2 by means of a spring 29. This pin 2'! holds the pawl 25 out of engagement with the notch 22. The flag 30 is rotatably mounted on the flag shaft 20 and is provided with a large hub 3| which overlies the disk 23. A ring 32 is secured to the back plate HI and is provided with a cam surface 33 and an arcuate surface 34 which extends from the surface 33 for a major arc ending in the cam surface 35. The inner surface of the hub 3| forms a circular surface 36 of greater radius than the are surface 34. The disk 23 which is secured to the flag 30 carries a square pin 31 which extends within a slot 38 of the hub 2| which is secured to the flag shaft 20. A coil spring 39 connects the disk 23 to the hub 2|, thereby yieldingly connecting the flag 30 to the flag shaft 2|]. A spring 40 connects the pawl to the arm 28. The arm 28' is provided with a nose 4|, as shown in Fig. 2. 25 The flag shaft may be manually operated by the driver as in conventional taximeters. All that he has to do is to move the flag in a clockwise-direction as viewed in Fig. 2, whereupon the pin 31 engages the right-hand end of 30 the slot 38 and positively rotates the flag shaft 28. The hub 2| and the pin 24 on which the pawl 25 is mounted would, therefore, move as a unit and the pawl 25 would be performing no function. When, however, the nose 4| engages the cam surface 35 the pawl 25 would be moved into the notch 22, which would be when the flag shaft had been moved to its 90 degree, or hired, position. If the operator then wishes to move the flag to its 180 degree position, the pin 31 will continue to drive the flag shaft. If now he wished to move the flag back to its 90 degree position, the pawl 25 would engage the right-hand end of the notch 22, as viewed in Fig. 2, and remove the fiag shaft back to its 90 degree position. When the operator had moved the flag shaft to its 270 degree position, he could also move it back to its 189 degree or its 90 degree positions. In like manner, he can complete the rotation of the flag to its home position. In other words, the pawl is held in engagement with the notch 22 at all times when the flag is anywhere between its degree and its 360 degree positions, being held in this position by means of the stationary ring 32.

As will be hereinafter described, the flag shaft 7.5 is automatically thrown to its 90 degree position when a passenger takes his seat. During this movement the flag shaft 20, as viewed in Fig. 2, would move in a clockwise direction for 90 degrees and the spring 39 would tend to move the flag 30 with it. If, however, the operator has placed a piece of wood or other obstructions in the path of the fiag 3D, the flag 3% would remain stationary while the flag shaft 20 would make its 90 degree rotation. The notch 2'2 would, therefore, move 90 degrees while the pawl 25 remained stationary. The dishonest driver would accomplish no fraud by his eiTort. As soon as he releases the flag 30, which he will have to do in order to return the flag shaft to its home position, the spring 39 will rotate the flag 30 to its 530 degree position and from then on the flag and flag shaft will operate as heretofore described. The function of the slot 38 is to permit the rotation of the flag shaft while the flag is being held stationary; that is, when the disk ill and slot 38 therein is rotated clockwise for 90 degrees the slot would simply travel over the pin 3i until the lower portion of the slot 38 engaged the lefthand side of the pin 3'1, as viewed in Fig. 2.

The automatic operation of the flag shaft 26 from its zero to its 90 degrees position when a passenger takes his seat will now be described. As heretofore related in regard to Fig. 3, the magnet 9 is actuated when a passenger takes his seat. This attracts the magnet bar t? guided on pins 42. The magnet bar 4"! is connected to a bar 43 as viewed in Fig. 4. When the magnet bar 41 is moved to the right viewed in Fig. 4 it moves the bar 43 to which it is connected, which bar carries a pin 44 connected to a bell crank lever 45 pivoted on a pin 46. A spring 48 connects the pin 46 to the bar 43 so that when the magnet 9 is not actuated the bar 43 will be moved to its left or non-actuated position. The bar 43 is provided with a downwardly extending nose 49 which overlies the upper end of a bar connected by a pin 51 to the bell crank lever 45 and by a pin 52 to a lever 53 pivoted on a pin ifhe pin 54 is mounted on a long lever 55 pivoted on a stud 56, which lever 55 extends beneath the flag shaft 20 and at its lower right-hand end, as viewed in Fig. l, is connected to a spring lit, which spring tends to pull the said lever 05 upwardly or to rotate it in a counterclockwise direction. The lever 53 is provided with a pin 58 on which is mounted a lever 59 having a rearwardly extending lug 60 which underlies the left-hand end of the lever 53 and is connected to said lever by means of a spring 6 l. The righthand end of the lever 59 terminates in an arm i= which normally engages the upper end of a lever 63 pivoted on a stud 64 carried by the said l-ver 55. The said lever 63 is provided with a downwardly extending arm 65 and an arm 66 extending to the right as viewed in Fig. l, which arm is provided with a notch 61. Mounted on the pin 64 is a lever 68 which extends on both sides of the stud 64 and is provided with a forwardly extending flange 69 which underlies a retaining pawl Ill pivoted on a stud "H carried by the back plate iii of the taximeter. A spring connects the retaining pawl 18 with a retaining pawl 13 which will be hereinafter described. The lever 55 carries a pin 14 on which is mounted an actuating pawl 16 which is normally urged downwardly against a pin l? by means of a spring 15. The actuating pawl i6 is provided with a cut-away portion 18 which receives the said pin 11, which cut-away portion I J ta l.

Zinc arm or" a bell crank which 88 pivoted on a stud normally in a coun .---cloclwisc direction by me s of a spring The lever US has I. pawl nose 9| at its right-hand end. as shown using encloses a spring is secured to a ratchet which hous- Tl e spring fill the o her end or" the coil spring is connec a pin secured to a tour-armed spider ill. spring is normally under considerable tension.

The ca n shaft 20 has secured thereto a ratchet 98 havin corrcspon from its Z'lil degree position to its 9' d ee position. These t"eth are acted upon by a retaining pawl {iii moun on a stud i 'iil, which pawl is rotated WI. The object or t the flag shalt be cd from any position bU'uVf'l) its .170 degree po itiO and its 360 d ee position rcversely to its i lid position "tor it has moved beyo" its home position to p; event it be ing rotated is a y position between zero and 270 degree position to its horns position. In other words, arm. the flag has been thrown to its 90 degree position cannot be returned reversely to its home position and w en it has been rotated beyond its 270 degree po ion, it cannot rotated reversely to its 270 degree position. Secured to the ratchet Bil are four rollers l2! mounted on studs These rollers are mountthis construction is to prev ed 90 degrees apart. I shown in Fig. 4, the upis resting in the notch t this spider or cannot antholockwise direction, as If, however, the inagnc. l were the lever that tl c spider ill lower roll 5532, thereby rotating the l? and flag shaft Ell in a clockwise direction for approximately iii) degr es. Secured to the rat h second plate liii. ircie exc 1 which,

plate I33 and a in the form of a it is provide: with a cam IS The p act it and holds the sp i tent with en the mag shaft, ho: vond its vacant spring contact M I in. the plate and tie con .5, therefore, r. pawl lid is rota'ahiy mounted on a ll ca ed by the back plate IO, which p wl has an arm H2 extending to the right as shown ng contact contact l2.

clockwise and elein Fig. 4. This arm is provided with a laterally extending plate H3, the lower end of which normally lies in the recess I09 of the plate I06. The plate I"! is provided with a stop lug II 4. The plate I0! is in front of the plate I06 as Viewed in Fig. 4 so that as the two plates I06 and I0! rotate from zero to 90 degrees the cam I3 passes beyond the insulation I! and the spring contact I4 moves downwardly out of engagement with the spring contact I2. The upper end of the plate I I3 prevents the spring contact I2 from moving downwardly. As the flag shaft rotates from its 90 degree to its 270 degree position this mechanism is not affected. When, however, the flag is being moved from its 270 degree to its 360 degree position the cam I3 will elevate the spring contact I4 but the upper end of the plate I I3 will also ride up on the cam I3 and will correspondingly elevate the spring contact I2 so that these two contacts remain separated. As the plate II3 rides up on the cam I3 the pawl IIO will be rotated counterclockwise so that the pawl nose will be in the path of movement of the stop lug II 4 thereby positively stopping the flag shaft in its home position.

The upper side of the pawl I I0 is provided with two upstanding arms H5 and H6 between which a lever lIl extends, which lever is mounted on a pin II 8 mounted on an arm I I9 mounted on the frame of the machine. The other end of the lever II! is provided with a V-shaped extension I20 which is normally received in a notch I2! of a disk I22 secured to a shaft I23 which carries a pinion I24 which meshes with and drives a pinion I 25 operatively connected with the units fare indicating wheel I26. This notch I2I is so positioned that when the fare indicating wheel is at zero, the notch will be adjacent the V-shaped extension I20 and the pawl IIO will be held so that the stop lug II4 can pass beneath it. This insures that the flag shaft will be stopped in its home position and will be held in that position until the fare indicating drums have had time to be returned to their zero position.

In operation, when the passenger sits on the seat the magnet 9 is energized which pulls the bar 43 to the right as viewed in Fig. 4 and by means of the bell crank lever 45 the bar 50 is raised which elevates the lever 53 and moves the arm 62 out of engagement with the upper end of the lever 63. The spider 91 now engages the cam surface I04 moving the lever 66 in a counter-clockwise direction. The spring 93 now rotates the spring housing 92, ratchet 94 and spider 91 in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 4 so that the curved surface I05 of the spider engages the lowermost of the rollers I02 rotating the flag shaft for 90 degrees and unless the flag is blocked against movement the spring 39 as shown in Fig. 2 will move the flag shaft with it. As the flag shaft rotated for 90 degrees the cam I3 passed beyond the spring contact I4 and the spring contact then moves out of engagement with the spring contact I2 breaking the circuit. As the spider 91 was rotating the upper arm of the spider 9'! engaged the lever 68 elevating the flange 69 and elevating the retaining pawl 70 out of engagement with its ratchet and freeing'the hub 8I so that the spring 84 rotated the arm 83 against the stop pin 86, thereby freeing the arm 81 of the lever 88 and the spring 90 moved this lever upwardly so that the pawl nose 9| engaged the ratchet 94 stopping the rotation of this ratchet. Also the arm of the spider 91 which was originally in the upright position engages the arm 65 of the lever 63 and moves the upper end thereof to the right as viewed in Fig. 4 so as to engage it with the lower right-hand surface of the arm 62, which arm yields against the tension of the spring 6 I. The lever 63 is thus brought back to its normal position which is the position shown in Fig. 4. This movement of the lever 63 brings the notch 61 into such a position thatit will engage the arm of the spider 91 which was originally extending to the right but which has now been rotated 90 degrees to an upright position. The spider and ratchet are thus held against being. rotated beyond the 90 degree position. While the spider was being moved from its zero to its 90 degree position it has correspondingly rotated the flag shaft 20 so that the flag shaft is now in its 90 degree position, which is the position which corresponds to the hired position of the taximeter.

The housing 92, ratchet 94 and spider 91 are all mounted on a stud I21 carried by the lever 55, which will be remembered is pivoted on the stud 56 and resiliently urged upwardly by means of the spring 5?. If the operator moves the flag manually from its 90 degree to its 180 degree position, the flag shaft 20 is correspondingly rotated. The roller I02 engages the curved surface I28 of the spider 91 and tends to rotate this spider but it cannot be rotated for it is held by its engagement with the notch 61 of the lever 63 which is locked against movement by the arm 62. The roller I 02, therefore, cams the spider 91 downwardly and the spider carries with it the lever 55 and all of the mechanism mounted on this lever. As the lever 55 moves downwardly the ratchet 94 is brought into engagement with the pawl nose 9| of the lever 88 and as the downward movement continues, the ratchet 94 is moved anti-clockwise as viewed in Fig. 4 the distance of one tooth, thereby winding the spring 93. The retaining pawl I3 prevents retrograde movement of this ratchet 94 when the roller I02 passes beyond the curved surface I28 of the spider 91.

As the lever 55 moves downwardly as above described, the nose I9 of the actuating pawl "I6 engages its ratchet on the hub 8I rotating it one tooth in an anti-clockwise direction so that each time the lever 55 moves downwardly the ratchet 94 and hub 0| are rotated in an anti-clockwise direction one tooth. This would occur when the driver manually moves the flag from its 90 degree to its 180 degree position, when he moved it from its 180 degree position to its 270 degree position and when he moved it from its 270 degree position to its 360 degree position so that the ratchet 94 and hub 8| would be actuated three teeth when the flag is moved from its 90 degree to its 360 degree position. The movement for all three teeth is sufficient to rewind the spring 93 and to move the arm 83 so as to re-engage the arm 87 of the lever 98 and move the pawl nose 9| out of engagement with the ratchet 94.

I realize that many changes may be made in the specific form of this invention shown and described by way of illustration in this application and I, therefore, reserve the right to make such changes in the specific form of the invention as shown herein as I may find to be desirable. I, therefore, claim the invention broadly except as I may limit myself by the appended claims.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. In a taximeter, a control shaft, a spring to rotate said shaft automatically from its home po- 15 sition to its operative position, and means whereby when said shaft is rotated in thesame direction as its initial movement, said spring will be rewound by a step by step movement.

2. In a taximeter, a control shaft, a spring to rotate said shaft automatically from its vacant to its operative position, and means operated by said control shaft to rewind said spring by a step by step movement.

3. In a taximeter, a control shaft, a spring to rotate said shaft automatically from its vacant to its operative position, means operated by said control shaft to rewind said spring by a step by step movement as the control shaft is moved from its operative position to its vacant position.

4. In a taximeter, a control shaft, 2. spring to rotate said shaft automatically from its vacant to its operative position, and a pawl and ratchet to rewind said spring by a step by step movement and means operated by said control shaft to move said ratchet.

5. In a taximeter, a control shaft, means normally locking said shaft against movement, weight controlled means to release said locking means, a spring, means whereby when said weight controlled means has been actuated said spring will rotate said shaft to its operative position, and means whereby when said shaft is rotated from its operative position to its vacant position said spring will be rewound by a step by step movement.

6. In a taximeter, a control shaft, a projection carried thereby, a switch, said projection normally closing said switch, and a stop pawl to engage said projection to prevent the shaft from being moved too rapidly beyond its home position.

7. In a taximeter, a control shaft, 8. projection carried thereby, a switch, said projection normally closing said switch, a fare drum, a stop pawl, and means whereby said fare drum controls said pawl so as to hold said pawl in the path of movement of said projection until such time as said drum has been returned to its zero position.

8. In a taximeter, a control shaft, a lever, arms rotatably mounted on said lever, studs carried by said control shaft, weight controlled means whereby one of said arms engages one of said studs and moves said control shaft from vacant to operative position, means to hold said arms against rotation after said control shaft has been moved to its operative position, and means whereby the movement of said control shaft from its operative position to its home position will return said weight controlled means to its normal condition.

9. In a taximeter, a unit consisting of a plurality of arms and a ratchet, a controlled shaft, means normally holding said arms against rotation, weight controlled means whereby the holding means is released and one of said arms rotates the control shaft from its vacant to its operative position, and means controlled by said control shaft whereby said weight controlled means is returned to its initial condition as said control shaft is moved from its operative to its home position, said last-named means including said ratchet.

GROVER CLEVELAND COIL. 

